DEAR READER, I can promise to be candid however, I cannot be impartial. Covering sports this January has been a challenge, as news of transfers from both the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) left a bitter taste in the mouths of fans not only here in San Beda but across both leagues.

January’s batch of transferees was headlined by our very own Jacob Cortez and Kean Baclaan from National University (NU) both transferring to play for De la Salle University (DLSU). While transfers are a common sight specially in high school and college basketball, reports from top sports journalists say that a vast sum of money is involved in recruiting these players away from their schools.

“It is not a secret that teams with wealthy backers are a part of a winning formula…”

It is not a secret that teams with wealthy backers are a part of a winning formula especially in college. Wealthy patrons have taken over both leagues as they look to use their wealth to entice talents for the betterment of the program they support.

An example of which is University of the East (UE) star Rey Remogat transferring to the University of the Philippines (UP) when UE cannot match UP’s offer. This has caused an interesting debate in columns and the comments sections with regards to poaching talent and how to punish or discourage transferring by shaving off time in a player’s eligible playing years.

UP has seen its fortunes turn as the former bottom feeders of UAAP basketball have clinched another championship after 36 years back in 2022 and have turned their program around partially due to a generous patron in Robinsons Retail Holdings backed by the Gokongwei family. Another example was NU whose majority owner is SM Group whose a perennial contender but still hasn’t reached the heights of their 2014 championship. Meanwhile in the NCAA Colegio de San Juan de Letran also saw their fortunes turn as San Miguel Corporation’s backing saw them three-peat a year after their partnership started.

But if we’re talking about successfully backed programs, those could only dream of reaching the heights of the Ateneo de Manila University and San Beda who are backed by their patron Manny V. Pangilinan, with the two schools building a winning tradition through an impeccable program and maximizing the opportunities provided by their patron.

So what am I getting at? Well dear reader, money talks and people listen. Though money is not everything, like the Rheingold in Wagner’s opera we will watch as the gods and the giants thieve over and take as much gold as they can. And like the Rheingold there will be no peace in the world till the gold is returned to the river or in this case unless some degree of parity will be enforced in the league.